Christopher Rich‘s debut on Happy’s Place came with several nods to his days playing Brock on Reba — including a cheating joke.
During the Friday, February 21, episode of Happy’s Place, Rich, 71, made a cameo as Maverick, which reunited him with Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman two decades after they shared the screen on Reba. Rich’s debut included several Easter eggs that Rich found “so delightful” for the audience.
“I liked that they let me call [Reba’s character Bobbie] Red at one point. That’s what I called her on the show,” he exclusively told Us about Brock’s reference to Reba on the hit sitcom. “Frequently, those little things are magnificent. And Reba [the show] has such a wonderful following that people will comment about it online. It was just so wonderful to work with those two women. They took such good care of me and they were very, very protective.”
Rich’s return to acting had him playing a tattoo artist who immediately caught Gabby’s (Peterman) eye. Friday’s episode even included a line where Gabby asked Maverick whether he had a wife she could steal him away from. The significance? Peterman and Rich previously played a couple on Reba, who got together after Brock cheated on his wife Reba (McEntire).
The trio originally became household names when Reba aired from 2001 to 2007. The hit show followed a single mom who had to start over after her husband, Brock, left her for his dental hygienist, Barbra Jean (Peterman). Reba attempted to start fresh while raising her three kids — including her pregnant teen daughter (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) and her boyfriend (Steve Howey).
McEntire, 69, and Peterman, 53, reunited two decades later as costars on NBC’s Happy’s Place, which paved the way for them to reunite with Rich and Howey as well. Rich’s episode holds extra significance after he stepped away from acting for several years following a massive stroke.
“The crew made it feel like the old Reba set because we were having a blast. They had as much fun as I did and that was really heartwarming for me. It felt like I was back home in a safe place,” Rich shared with Us. “I was really well taken care of. It was a blessing. I want to go back so badly.”
In fact, Rich already has an idea for how he could return, adding, “I think that Maverick should come back because Gabby wants to have a baby. I make pretty children.” Rich doesn’t mind playing a new character alongside Peterman and McEntire — but the Reba nostalgia couldn’t be avoided.
“It was like coming out of the dark into the light. I almost didn’t leave the house at first when I had the stroke. I was so embarrassed and afraid people would look at me and go, ‘God, what happened to that guy?’ But you have to get over it and just let it breathe,” he noted. “That was an interesting thing about what would that be like for Brock to have had a stroke? Melissa had the funniest line. She said, ‘Well, if Brock and Barbra Jean ever get back together and he had the stroke, I can say it’s not so bad. He’s still a loving man. He always was. He doesn’t have any use of his left side — but to be honest — I never much liked what he did with his left hand anyway.’”
Rich is grateful he starred on a show that still has such a lasting impact.
“We started off with the intention of doing something real. Originally, it was just a divorce show. They didn’t even want Brock to be a regular character. He was just going to make an occasional appearance. But I lobbied as someone who came from a divorced family and had a divorce,” he continued. “I know what that’s like. There’s a lot of material there. Obviously, we found it and there’s a lot of material in that fractured family. It was very important to show what it was like for a divorced family to navigate the seas of life today.”
Happy’s Place airs on NBC Fridays at 8 p.m. ET.
